• Seeks Tinubu’s approval for 400km East-West Road integration
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Minister of Works, David Umahi, has insisted that the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway stays intact and can’t be altered, assuring Nigerians that development is progressing throughout a number of states.
Umahi, chatting with State House Correspondents after briefing President Bola Tinubu, stated surveyors and designers have been presently assessing the freeway’s alignment in Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states, whereas work continued on sections already underneath development.
“Nobody has abandoned the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. In fact, as we are talking now, we have designers. We have surveyors. We are surveying the axis of Edo State, we are surveying the axis of Delta State, we are surveying the axis of Bayelsa, and then Rivers,” he stated.
He added: “The 750 coastal highway is intact and cannot be changed, and nobody has the powers to change it, because it is already designed and it is ongoing.”
The minister additionally disclosed that his ministry had sought President Bola Tinubu’s approval to combine a further 400 kilometres of the East-West Road, stretching from Edo State by means of the Niger Delta to Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.
According to him, the proposed extension would enhance connectivity throughout the area and complement the coastal freeway.
Umahi defined that elements of the East-West Road have been constructed beneath flood degree, leaving some sections susceptible to flooding and injury.
He cited injury to sections round Abaro in Delta State about three weeks in the past, saying the state governor intervened to handle the state of affairs. He added that comparable issues had occurred in Edo State.
The proposed 400-kilometre integration is awaiting presidential approval.
Giving an replace on the coastal freeway, Umahi stated the 147.47-kilometre Section One in Lagos was underneath development, whereas Section Two, measuring 55 kilometres on every carriageway, was anticipated to be prepared by the center of November.
He stated Sections 3A and 3B, overlaying about 75 kilometres within the Cross River and Akwa Ibom areas, had recorded greater than 40 per cent completion.
Sections 4A and 4B, overlaying 65 kilometres alongside the Ogun and Ondo axis, have been additionally underneath development, with work extending into Ondo State.
At the Calabar finish, the minister stated greater than 40 per cent of the undertaking had been accomplished, whereas Section Five, overlaying 62.5 kilometres in Akwa Ibom State, had recorded over 20 per cent completion.
“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is moving and moving even faster than envisaged,” he stated.
Umahi added that the federal government was getting ready to assemble service lanes as a part of efforts to enhance the freeway’s accessibility and performance.
He attributed the undertaking’s implementation technique to Tinubu’s directive that main legacy street initiatives ought to start from each ends.
The minister additionally disclosed that the President had expanded the scope of one other set of legacy street initiatives within the North.
According to him, the initiatives, initially overlaying about 700 kilometres alongside the Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Biu–Maiduguri hall, had been expanded to incorporate a further route by means of Langtang and Wukari, bringing their mixed size to roughly 1,100 kilometres.
Umahi maintained that the growth of the northern street initiatives wouldn’t have an effect on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which he stated remained absolutely designed and underneath development alongside its designated alignment.
